UPDATE: Governors, mayor support Metro shake-up

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and District of Columbia Mayor-elect Vincent Gray say they “welcome” a task force report recommending a major change in governance at Metro. “We have reviewed and discussed the report and agree that WMATA’s governance structure needs reform,” the trio said in a statement.

Moving Metro Forward, produced by an 18-member task force sponsored by the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, slammed the Metro Board for contributing to the transit system’s decline.

The governors and mayor-elect are not letting this task force report collect any dust. They’ve already instructed their top transportation officials to meet with Metro Board members and other officials, including their respective congressional delegations, to “develop a comprehensive Moving Metro Forward implementation plan and schedule” within the next 45 days.

The train, as they say, has already left the station, and any recalcitrant Metro Board members had better get out of the way.

“We look forward to working with our Delegations to ensure WMATA’s governance structure will start WMATA back on the path to being one of the world’s safest and highest performing transit systems,” the joint statement said.